Re: [tied] Etymology of "cat"

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 2868
Date: 2000-07-26

 
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Odegard
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 7:49 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Etymology of "cat"

All those modern European words derive from late Latin cattus, which is itself pretty enigmatic. Something like *kat- 'young/small animal' has indeed been sugested as the source. In Slavic we have kotiti se 'give birth to a litter' which may be independent from the Latin loanword kot 'cat' (though ultimately related to it). The latter spread among the Slavic-speaking peoples in the early Middle Ages; Christian missionaries and monks from the post-Roman South and West can no doubt be credited with introducing domestic cats to newly converted countries. PIE certainly had a term for 'wildcat', as local varieties of Felis silvestris used to occur throughout Eurasia (and much of Africa, of course), but I don't quite believe it was *bHel-. In Slavic the words for 'cat' and 'wildcat' are not related, but those for the latter don't seem to me to have cognates outside Slavic. Perhaps the PIE word has been completely lost, together with the names of many other common carnivores -- like martens, badgers, weasels and polecats. Even the words for 'fox' and 'lynx' are difficult to reconstruct (only wolfs, bears and maybe otters have been luckier).
 
Piotr
 
 
From: Danny Wier <dawier@...>
 

> Okay, need help here.  What is the etymology of the word "cat"?  I've
> found it in many languages, but probably as borrowings.
>
> Latin catus
> French chat
> Spanish gato
> Irish cat
> Welsh cath
> German Katze
> Russian koshka (< kot)
>
> But...  Cl. Greek ailouros.  (Modern Greek gata though!)
 
EIEC points out the possible relationship to Latin catulus 'young animal'.  ?*bhel- 'wildcat; any small carnivore' and ??*kat- 'cat' are given as doubtful PIE etyma for felids. EIEC suggests Nubian katis is the ultimate origin.
 
?*bhel, however,  may indeed be PIE and would be behind Latin felis; there seem to be Sanskrit and Maldivian cognates.
 
Domestic cats were known in the Mediterranean by classical times, but were relatively rare until rather late, so far as I recall. Domestic ferrets were used instead. I'm remembering a story about Constantine the Great's mother, St. Helena, and how she is attributed as the one who really introduced the cat to Greece.